1. Field
The exemplary embodiments relate to methods and apparatuses for matching medical images having different modalities.
2. Description of the Related Art
With recent developments in medical technology, high resolution medical images may be obtained. As a medical device may be finely manipulated, a method of forming a small puncture hole in the skin, directly inserting a catheter or a medical needle into a blood vessel or a desired body part, and providing treatment while observing the interior of the body by using a medical imaging device has been developed. The method is referred to as a “treatment method using an image” or an “interventional imaging method”.
A practitioner recognizes a location of an organ or a lesion by using an image. In addition, since a patient breathes or moves, the practitioner has to recognize a change in position according to the breathing or movement. Accordingly, the practitioner has to provide treatment by accurately and quickly recognizing the breathing or the movement based on an image in real time. In this case, however, it is not easy to recognize with the naked eye a shape of the organ or the lesion in an ultrasound image that may be obtained in real time.
A magnetic resonance (MR) or computed tomography (CT) image, unlike the ultrasound image, enables the practitioner to clearly identify the organ or the lesion. However, since the MR or CT image may not be obtained in real time during medical treatment, the MR or CT image fails to reflect the patient's breathing or movement that occurs during the medical treatment.
Accordingly, it is necessary to register a first image that is captured in real time with a second image that has a modality different from a modality of the first image. When a plurality of images having different modalities is to be registered, feature points may be extracted from the images and may be registered. In this case, however, it may be difficult to perform the registration according to quality of the images.